India progressed to the quarterfinal stage of the World Cup with a clean sheet. Six wins out of six has boosted their confidence going into the business end of the tournament and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team will fancy their chances in the quarter-final clash against Bangladesh.
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Seems well and good on paper. But a closer look at the last three Indian wins shows that the team has been thoroughly tested, and in some instances had deficiencies exposed by their opponents.
While winning is what matters at the end of the day, the euphoria following near-perfect wins against Pakistan and South Africa has surely subsided.
In the game against the West Indies, India’s quicks — led by Mohammad Shami — bowled with pace and hostility and shot them out for 182 on a responsive Perth wicket. When it came to chasing down the meagre total, India’s batsmen found the going tough.
Windies pacers Jerome Taylor and Andre Russell hit the Indians hard with swing and pace, reducing them to 134 for six.
The old issues of frailty against quality pace bowling came to the fore as openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan failed to get into double figures. It required the calm batting of Dhoni to take India over the finish line.
The next match saw the pride of India fast bowlers Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma, who had been on the money for the first four games, take a big hit. Yadav went for 34 runs in four overs while Sharma was milked for 38 from six as Ireland threatened to post a huge total; they were placed at 206-3 in the 39th over.
Had it not been for the clever and controlled bowling by spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38 from 10 overs) and Suresh Raina (1-40 from 10), India would have been staring at a total much bigger than the 259 Ireland eventually managed.
The chase didn’t prove too big a problem but it became clear India’s quicks can be taken on without any fear. And in their last game of the group stage, with a quarter-final berth already secured, India’s spinners were taken apart by a spirited Zimbabwe batting line-up.
While the seamers found their grove, with Shami, as expected, picking up three wickets and Yadav and Sharma scalping three each, tweakers Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were taken to the cleaners by centurion Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams.
The two spinners bled 146 runs from their 20 overs as the African side posted 287. India’s top order wobbled again and this time, the middle order stepped up to the task with a century from Suresh Raina and a half-century from Dhoni finishing the job.
Captain Dhoni said he was pleased with the heavy workout against Zimbabwe, which is a euphemism for ‘that was close’. Being tested is fine, but thrashing the likes of Pakistan and South Africa before running into some big problems against Ireland and Zimbabwe isn’t ideal for a tricky face-off against Bangladesh in the last eight.
The Tigers have given India a lot of trouble over the years. They dumped India out of the 2007 World Cup, made a spirited chase of the 371-run target in the 2011 World Cup (losing by 87 runs) and then spoiled Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th century party by winning that Mirpur ODI in 2012. They know that India can be beaten.
Then there is a grudge factor. Bangladesh see the Indian players as arrogant, as explained by captain Mashrafe Mortaza who said that prior to the 2007 World Cup, India’s Anil Kumble bemoaned the lack of gap between the World Cup and the subsequent Bangladesh tour. Mortaza said he felt offended by the assumption that India would make it to the final. As it happened, Bangladesh chucked India out of the tournament.
Also, in 2010 Virender Sehwag ruffled a whole bunch of feathers by declaring that “Bagladesh are an ordinary side. They can’t beat India because they can’t take 20 wickets (in a Test)”. Veterans like Tamim Iqbal and Mortaza will surely fire up the side to deliver 100 per cent against India.
When players take a match as an opportunity to settle personal scores, anything is possible. A team can account for the talent of a batsman, the pace of a seamer or the guile of a spinner, but never the anger of a squad.
For India, the best way forward is to let their cricket do the talking. They need to ensure that emotions don’t take over because Bangladesh will surely be looking for a fight. And it’s imperative the Indians realise that this is not going to be a walkover.
In a way, the reality check is a blessing in disguise. It has been proven that India’s fast bowlers are not invincible, the spinners can be hit to all sides of the park and the batsmen can be pegged back with incisive seam bowling.
No player has any misgivings about his form and ability and it’s good to play a crunch game with a certain level of humility.
